Project R-13995

Powerful Ordered Collective Engines: The Role of Topologies. (Research)

Stochastic Thermodynamics has become an important cornerstone of statistical physics. This theory intends to describe the thermodynamics of systems at a microscopic and trajectory level and at finite time where thermal fluctuations have an important role and can't be neglected. Situated in the context of stochastic thermodynamics, in this project we introduce a class of thermal engines comprising many single units operating synchronously. For these systems we consider the following research topics: i) the influence of the various parameters (e.g. interaction and individual energies) on the performance and working regime, also considering the linear approximation near equilibrium, obtaining expressions for thermodynamic quantities via Onsager coefficients as well as their behaviours in the collective and independent regime, ii) the influence of network topology (beyond the all-to-all case) in the system on its performance, and finally iii) the statistics (mean and variance) of power output and efficiency and the relation with the universal efficiency fluctuations for single unit heat engines.

16 June 2023 - 30 June 2025